One-fan combined dust-collecting and air-supply system for pneumatic separators and cleaners



' July 10,- 1928.

H. M. SUTTON ET A D DUS MA TONE FAN'COMBINE T COLLECTING AND AIR SYSTEM FOR PNEU S ARA'IORS AND CLEAN Ongmal e es. 3, 1925 TIC ' Fil H'r f.

Patented July 10,1928. 1,676,969

um-ran STATES PATENT OFFICE.

m3 H0033 SUTTON, WALTER LIVINGSTON STEELE, AND EDWIN GOODWIN 01 DALLAS, TEXAS. 1

ONI-ILN COIBINED DUST-COLLECTING AND AIR-SUPPLY SYBTEH FOR PNEUKA'IIO SEPABATOBS AND CLEANERS.

i mates filed December a, 1m, mm m. mane. Renewed m 1:, 1m.-

This invention relates to improvements in ticular separator or, cleaner be closely regu- 66 a one fan combined dust collecting and air lated to suit the work being done. A sepa- 5 supply system forpneumaticseparators and rator or cleaner may be used for separating cleaners and relates more particularly to a or cleaning material of different characters one-fan system for providing air to a pluboth as to size and weight and also as to rality: of. pneumatic separators or cleaners amount of tonnage handled, and due to these 00 and at the same timemaintaining a suction facts the close regulation of air before menin the dust collecting system for collecting tioned is necessary. the dust laden air as it rises from the clean- This necessity for the close regulation of 90 ing or separating mills ortables. alr supply has caused a separate fan to be The object of our invention is to provide emplo ed for each apparatus for the reason 06 a combined dust collecting and air supply that i all of the cleaning or separating apsystem for pneumatic separators or cleanaratus of a mill were receiving their air ers in which there is utilized a single fan. rom one fan of a suilicient capacity to su Another object of our invention is to proply the needs of all of them it would he vide a one-fan system of the character deseen that any change in regulation of the [0 scribed in which the fan provides an air air supplied to'one apparatus would immevolume in excess of the total air requirediately disturb and change the air regulaments of the system. tion of all of the other apparatus. A one- Another object of our invention is to profan system of this character would consevide a one-fan system of the character dequently prove inoperative and frequent regu- 76 scribed in which there is means to control lation of the air supplied to the several apthe air in respect to the dust collecting sys paratus is necessary. tern and also in respect to the air supply Our present application has on the dis- 20 s stem. charge side of the fan a system which pro- A further object of our invention is to vides air for a plurality of separators or 80 provide a one-fan system of the character cleaners and the system is so designed that described in which adjustments can be made repeated air adjustments can behad on any in respect to the amount of air delivery to of the several separating or cleaning units -30 one of the separators or cleaners without Without affecting the regulation of any of affecting a previous adjustment of air dethe othcijunits. j livery to any of the other separators or The present-application deals with the cleaners. combination of the one-fan air supply sys- A tm-ther object of our invention ,is to tem for a plurality of pneumatic separators provide a system of the character described or cleaners with a dust collecting system for in which there is one fan which operates on the separators or cleaners. 1 I its suction side a dust collecting system and It however will benecessa to go into I on its discharge side an air supply system, somewhat of a description of Elie air supply both systems being preferably utilized in system as well as the dust collecting system. res ect to pneumatic'separators or cleaners. In the drawings:

nother object of our invention is to pro- Figure 1 is a perspective view, part in vide a combined system of the character desection, showing our present improvement. 7 scribed which is cheap and simple of manu- Figure 2 is an enlarged top lan view of facture and installation and highly efiicient the automatic air controlling evice placed. 45 in operation. at the inlet end of the tube 3. Other further objects, improved results, Referring now to the drawings: and novel features of construction will ap- 1 indicates an ordinary centrifugal fan pear in the following description and ac.- having its suction side provided with a suitcompanying drawings. able pipe 2 and its discharge side provided 5 So far as we are aware the common'cuswith a suitable pipe or conduit 3. The tom has been to provide a separate fan for fan 1 may be of any type'desired and driven each pneumatic separator or cleaner in a in any suitable manner such as through the mill. This is done for the reason that it is medium of a belt, motor or the like. necessary that the air supply to each par- Leading of from the discharge conduit 3 are a plurality of supplemental air conduits 4.- which provide air to the several separators or cleaners (not shown) located preferably above the main conduit. It will be understood however that the position of the sedparators or cleaners can be made as desire Positioned in each of the supplemental conduits 4 there is a regulating gate or valve 5 for controlling the air supply to each of the separating or cleaning units. The position of this valve is not material so long as it is at some point between the main air conduit and the unit, the air supply of which it controls.

Located at the end of the main air conduit 3 is an automatic relief valve composed of an open ended housing 6 in which are mounted upon vertical shafts 7 two gate valves 8. The upper ends of the shafts 7 are provided with segments 9 to which are fastened a chain or belt 10 which passes around suitable pulleys 11, 12 and 13 and carries upon its end the weight 14.

To make our air supply side of the system operative the main conduit 3 must be of a suflicient size to provide an air volume sufficient for the desired number of outlets through the several separator or cleaner conduits. The fan must be of a capacity to provide an amount of air in excess to the maximum air capacity of the several units of separators or cleaners.

Turning now to the dust collectin we find that the suction side of the municates with a dust collector 15 the intake pipe 2 of the fan and that the dust collector is provided with an intake pipe 16 and having a plurality of supplemental conduits 17 which are provided at their ends with dust suction hoods or boots 18, which are positioned above the several cleaners or separators to receive the dust laden air as it rises from these apparatus.

The dust collector 15 may be of any desired construction common to the art and can be provided as desired with a dust out let 19 which can be put in communication with a conveyer or bin for carrying off the dust product.

The end of the dust collecting conduit 16 is provided with a regulating gate or valve 20. Ordinarily more volume of airis required for the operation of a battery or series of pneumatic separators or cleaners than is rerauired for the efficient operation of a dust col ecting system. For this reason when an excess amount of air is provided over what is used in the operation of the several separators or cleaners a suflicient volume of air is available on the suction side of the fan to efficiently operate the dust collecting system. We have found in certain cases additional air must be admitted to the suction side of the system in excess to the volume of air admitted through the dust collecting system an comthrough hoods or boots in order to volume for the efficient separating equipment. In order to secure this needed volume the dust collecting conduit 16 is provided with a regulating ate or valve 20 in its end so that air can be a mitted as desired to the suction pipe. This is advantageous for the reason that it is advisable to use a large volume of air at a high velocity for movin the dust through the horizontal pipes. ft will be readily seen that the volume of air in the dust collecting system can be added to, as desired, through t e medium of the control valve 20.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the fan 1 must have a capacity in excess to the total air requirements of both the dust collecting system and the air supply system.

The operation of the combined system is as follows: the fan 1 which has an excess capacity as described is operated at a speed suitable to provide the necessary air velocity on its suction side to etiiciently operate the dust collecting system. The air inlet control or gate 20 of the suction conduit 16 is regulated to admit whatever additional air is needed in excess to the air entering the suction hoods or boots 18.

The hoods or boots collect the dust arising from the several separator or cleaner units of the mill or at any other points where it may be desired to place a suction hood. The dust laden air entering the suction boots is conveyed to the dust collector or separator 15 where the dust is removed from the air and is conveyed through the outlet 19 of the separator to a suitable bin or the like.

The purified air now passes from the separator 15 to the suction side of the tan through the suction inlet pipe. 2 and is discharged from the fan into the discharge conduit 3. The fan is delivering air into this discharge conduit in excess to the amount needed for the several separator or cleaning units. The amount of air needed by each of the units is adjusted through the medium of the regulating valves or gates 5 and as the total volume of air consumption of all of the units is less than the volume of air supplied by the fan this excess air forces the gates 8 of the relief valve open, overcoming the force of the weight 14, and thus escapes into the atmosphere or to waste.

Upon any adjustment of the valves 5 to regulate the air delivery to any separator or cleaner the air escape past the gates 8 will be increased or diminished in relation to whether or not the air delivered to the separator or cleaner is increased or diminished.

It will be seen that the system as a whole can be maintained in perfect balance. The adjustment of the valves 20 on the suction side of the system regulates the intensity of the suction at each suction hood or boot in addition to supplying more or less volume provide a sutiicient operation of the passes the gates 8 for the efiicient plpheration of the dust collectin system.. e air supply system on the discharge side of the fan is automatic regardless of the amount of air handled by the suction side of the fan as only the deviouswhen heretofore a separate fan has system.

been used for each separator or cleaner and a separate fan for each dust collecting thus described our invention, what Having desire to secure by Letters we claim and Patent is 1. An air supply for a plurality of pneumatic separators and a dust collector,com-

. the separators, a

that required by the prising a fan having a greater capacity than system, an air supply conduit connected with the outlet end of the fan having a plurality of connections with dust collector conduit having a plurality of dust collectors, a dust sep arator connected with the dust collecting conduit, the suction. side of the fan connected with said dust separator, and auto- .matic means for controlling the amount of air pressure within the said air conduit, whereby a single fan operates a plurality of suction devices and supplies air to a plurality of separators.

2. An air supply and a dust collector comprising an air supply pipe having a pluralconnected with ity of outletsconnected with a plurality of separators, a dust collecting tube having a plurality of dust collectors, a dust separator the dust collecting tube, a fan having greatercapacity than that required by the said system, having its outlet connected with the air supply and its suction side connected with the separator, said dust collector tube having means for controlling the air admitted thereto and to the said fan, wherebythe suction in turn can be controlled for the purpose specified.

3. An air supply and dust collecting system for a pluralityof dust collectors for pneumatic separators, comprising an air supply tube having a plurality of connections for a plurality of separators, a suction tube having a plurality of dust collectors, the outlet end of the dust collecting tube connected with an air separator, and afan having a larger capacity than the system requires having its outlet side connected with the air tube and its suction side connected with the said separator, thesaid air tube having automatic means forcontrollin r the pressuretherein, and the"suction tube avlng means for controlling the air thereto, whereby the amount of air admitted to the suction tube can be controlled according to the amount of air supplied to the separators.

4. An air supply and a suction system for a plurality of separators comprising an air tu e having a plurality of connections for a plurality of separators, a dust collecting tube having a plurality of dust collecting devices, and a dust separator connected with the outlet end of the dust collecting tube, a fan having greater capacity than that required by the said system havin its outlet side connected with the air supp y tube and its suction side connected with the said separator, the air supply tube provided with means for controlling its pressure and its connections provided with means for controlling the supply of air to the individual separators and the inlet of the dust collecting tube having means for controlling air thereto, whereby an increased or decreased amount of air can be fed to the dust collecting tube according to the amount of air passing from the said air supply tube.

5. An air supply and a dust collector for a plurality of pneumatic separators comprising an air tube with connections for a plurality of separators, a dust tube having a a plurality of hoods, the dust tube connected with'the separators, a fan having its outlet side connected with the air supply tube and its suction side connected with the separators, and means for controlling the air supply whereby a single fan is made to serve for a plurality of separators and dust collectors.

6. An air system for a plurality otpneumatic separators comprising a conduit pipe having a pluarlity of outlets to be connected respectively to the separators, afan having its outlet connected with the said conduit, the fan being of a capacity in excess of the capacity required by each separator outlet having a manually adjustable valve, and the said conduit provided with a valve controlled by-the pressure of air therein, whereby the pressure in the conduit is maintained at the desired degree irrespective of the adjustment of the manual valves in the outlets.

7. A dust collector and air supply system for pneumatic separators comprising a conduit having a plurality of connections with the respective separators, a dust collecting pipe having a plurality of connections of dust collecting part-s located above the said separators, a dust collector connected with the dust conduit, a fan having its outlet connected with the conduit and its inletconnected with the dust collector to take the purified air therefrom, the fan having a the combined separators,

capacity in excess of the capacity necessary for the air supply and dust collcctlng units, the dust collecting unit having a valve controlling the amount of air drawn through 1t, the conduit air supply having a pressure escape valve for regulating automatically the pressure therein, whereby the air for the (lust collecting and air supply system is regulatcd.

8. A dust collecting, and air supply system for pneumatic separators comprising an air supply pipe having a plurality of outlets to be connected with the separators, a dust collecting pipe having a plurality of dust collectors for the separators, a dust collector connected with the dust conduit, a fan having its outlet connected with the said air supply and its inlet connected with the dust collector at a point to take the purified air therefrom and feed it through the air pressure supply pipe for the separators, the air pressure conduit and the dust conduit each having valves, one of the said valves being controlled by the air passing through it and thus balancing the system.

In testimony whereof we hereunto affix our signatures.

HENRY MOORE SUTTON. WALTER LIVINGSTON STEELE. EDWIN GOODWIN STEELE. 

